Qualcomm launches Clear Sight dual-camera system for smartphones

Chipset-maker Qualcomm has today announced its new Clear Sight dual-camera system. Clear Sight is not designed for optical zooming, like the dual-cameras in the LG G5 or iPhone 7 Plus, but instead adopts a similar concept as the Leica-branded dual-camera setup in the Huawei P9.

Both lenses have the same focal length but one captures image data on a color sensor, the other on a monochrome imager. The sensors are technically identical but the monochrome variant does not use a color filter. This means it cannot record any color information but in turn can capture three times as much light as the color sensor. As a result the black and white images have better contrast, lower noise levels and increased sharpness. By merging the image information from both sensors, color is added to the final output image.

This task is handled by Qualcomm's Spectra ISP which is featured in the company's Snapdragon 820 and 821 mobile chipsets. Clear Sight consists of a hardware module with two cameras, plus the corresponding computational algorithms that enable the Spectra ISPs to capture both images at exactly the same time and merge them. Qualcomm has not yet provided any detailed specifications, nor do we know what upcoming devices will feature Clear Sight. It certainly looks like dual-cameras are here to stay, though.

Don't forget to multiply the number of cameras by the different focal lengths that you want. A bag of primes in your pocket.

On the other hand, I would be happy with 1000fps HDR 4k video/image capture that could be processed on the fly with temporal noise reduction and some advanced sensor shifting to increase the resolution (basically what our eyes+brain do).

I like the bag of primes idea, but its difficult to make ut suit a slim construction. Even with tilted mirrors (that will limit the number of camera modules). So I guess its going to get just a few focal lengths close to normal. I.E. 28, 50 and 100mm FF equivalent.

Two cheapo camera modules and a lot of proprietary processing. Predictably corny results, just like the crappy sample images from the iPhone 7 Plus. Total waste of time, but the smartphone industry is desperate for new gimmicks because the market has peaked and started to decline.

Can we please drop the myth that no CFA sensor receives three times the light? On classic bayer for 4 pixel block you have 1 complete + 1 green, and as green is weighted at ~70%, the sum is ~1.7 which is not 1/3 of 4. Add to that Sony (and a lot of others') cfas that pass as much green in "red" pixels as they do red (less in blue) and it's closer to twice the light. So, the same effect as two exotic cameras and specialized ISP could be obtained by simple 1/1.7" sensor...

70% weight doesn't mean that it captures 70% of the visible light. Even then, it would be still much less than half, or between half and third. Sure nowadays in the hunt for high ISO performance the color filters have been made weaker but then they suffer poorer color reproduction of certain tones. Instead of having awkward solution which does neither very well, why not have both specialized sensors who excel at their tasks? Pocket screens got quite high gamut capability now and it would be shame to not use it just because the built in camera sucks with colors as well as in low light.

But the problem is thickness for a phone! Sure the nokia 808 has a great camera, but it's a brick! Two smaller cameras will always be thinner than only one with the same specs.Anyway also if a BW sensor gets not 3 times the light, but only two, remember that you also have another unit of light taken by the color sensor: 2 times the black and white, and one the color sensor, making it 3 times. You also have the advantage in sharpness of the BW sensor, and that you merge two different noise patterns, so the noise will be leveled and lowered (as it's done with astronomical photos).

I am not really into this dual camera thing but I think there is more value with a second camera having a longer focal length as I see young people digital zooming in very close to a friend's face or pet. I'd rather see a more compact and better version of Nokia's 808 in today's smartphones.

This has potential. Sensors and processors are now major components, with the optics, contributing to improving IQ from tiny devices. Of course, the processing software needs to be optimised too to get the best out of the hardware.

Any huawei p9 owners here? At stores, i tried to cover the b&w camera and take a normal photo. Then i uncover it, and take another. I can't seem to notice any difference. Does it combine data from both cameras? Or there's something I miss in the settings

Someone told me there is a review out there where the review cover the lens and determined the images aren't combined. The B&W sensor is only for B&W photos while the normal sensor handles everything else which is why P9's photo wasn't very impressive.

Qualcomm? Who would associate this name with digital camera technologies? Soon, Intel, AMD, Nvidia and the likes will be providing innovative components for any forward-thinking, open-system company to create modern cameras that are, fundamentally, networked computers. There will be a multitude of form factors that bear little or no resemblance to today's cameras.

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